A liquid crystal panel included in a liquid crystal display device such as a liquid crystal television receiver does not emit light. Therefore, a backlight unit is required as a separate lighting unit. The backlight unit is arranged behind the liquid crystal panel (on an opposite side from the display surface). It includes a chassis, a number of cold cathode tubes, an optical member and an inverter board. The chassis has an opening in a surface on the liquid crystal panel side. The cold cathode tubes are housed in the chassis. The optical member includes a plurality of pieces (e.g., a diffuser). It is arranged so as to cover the opening of the chassis and configured to effectively direct rays of light emitted from the cold cathode tubes toward the liquid crystal panel. The inverter board is provided for supplying power to the cold cathode tubes.
Patent Document 1 discloses an example configuration for making electrical connection between an inverter board and cold cathode tubes. In this configuration, the cold cathode tubes are arranged on the front side inside the chassis and the inverter board is arranged on the rear side outside the chassis. Relay connectors are mounted to the chassis so as to penetrate through the chassis. The cold cathode tubes are connected to internal ends of the relay connectors. The inverter board is connected to external ends of the relay connectors.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-280955